Equity & AAC: Reimagining education, literacy, and linguistic justice in practice

Research has shown that access to AAC-based intervention and instruction in preschool and early elementary school is crucial when supporting children’s participation in school, communication, social development, and overall outcomes throughout their lives (Drager et al., 2010). However, there is significant inequity and many barriers in the provision of AAC services. As a result, many children experience a delay in receiving formalized AAC services and systems, which may impact their overall language development and educational outcomes, including literacy instruction. In this session, we will discuss utilizing multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and the descriptive teaching model to support AAC users with accessing and participating in comprehensive educational and literacy instruction and experiences. Additionally, we will review a case study to illustrate the power of MTSS and descriptive teaching in the quest to reimagine education, literacy, and linguistic justice in practice. Lastly, this course will provide some considerations and resources for the implementation of MTSS and descriptive teaching with AAC users.

Presenters

Karina Saechao
M.A., CCC-SLP, ATACP
Karina Saechao, M.A., CCC-SLP is an SLP, licensed in CA and KS. She holds a certificate as an assistive technology specialist and is a Ph.D. student at the University of Kansas. Karina’s research interests are in African American English, child language, AAC. Karina is the Founder & CEO of Golden Oak Speech Therapy, and specializes in AAC, AT, language, literacy, and caregiver & educator coaching.

Learning Objectives

Explain three barriers to equitable AAC implementation.
Discuss two ways to implement the MTSS to support AAC users with accessing and participating in comprehensive educational and literacy instruction and experiences.
Describe two ways to utilize the descriptive teaching model with AAC users.

Agenda

2 minutes	Introduction & Disclosures
5 minutes	Background & Intro to AAC
8 minutes	Barriers to Receiving an equitable education
10 minutes	Education Equity
10 minutes	Literacy Equity
15 minutes	Linguistic Justice for AAC users
10 minutes	Solutions and Considerations

Disclosures

Speakers - Financial	Karina Saechao is receiving an honorarium from Bright Ideas Media for this presentation today.
Speakers - Nonfinancial	Karina Saechao is a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), National Black Association of Speech, Language and Hearing (NBASLH), and ASHA SIGs 01, 12, and 14. Karina is the founder and CEO of Golden Oak Speech Therapy, A Professional Speech Pathology Corporation.
Course - Content	Karina Saechao has no additional content information to disclose.
Course - Financial Support & In Kind	Karina Saechao has no additional content information to disclose.

ASHA

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs, Intermediate Level, Professional Area, Professional Area